Kidnapped By An Alpha Jerk

Chapter 63

We pretended, sure. But it wasn't real. Our smiles and laughter were more for the benefit of those hurting, not for ourselves. I mean, the boy that I've been best friends with since childhood has gone off the rails – again. I don't know how to help him – I never did.

I had every opportunity to try and help him – my whole life. And I couldn't do anything. If a best friend's role is to stand by their friend, what the hell am I? He informed me about his situation yesterday, told me that he was fine, that he was with Kaden; he also told me to not tell April. To keep her mind off things, maybe tell her he was fine, but that's all.

I shake my head, brushing away the cobwebbed thoughts.

Then, I prepare myself for going out into the rain.

Aiden's POV

Shaking, sweating, no sleep, rain, shaking, sweating, no sleep, rain.

My fingers are trembling and my vision is going blurry; I've been cooped up inside a small, rented house somewhere with Kaden. He was the first one I went to – had to go to – he promised he wouldn't disclose my location to anyone. He would help me and keep my urges under control.

I may be a werewolf; I may have said that werewolves' tolerance to alcohol was higher than humans, but I'd been abusing it for so long, that it had become a part of my blood. I was only a werewolf – that didn't make me invincible to common traps.

I look outside shakily; it's raining. Torrents and torrents of grey rain – my eyes trace the trail of a raindrop. I follow it all the way down until I reach the raindrop, still making its rhythmic way down the window, but then, it crashes to the ground and disappears once it has reached the end of its journey. It feels like an explosion in my mind. I gasp and fall back onto the pillow, my palms damp. I can't sleep. I can't even eat without puking up my last meal.

It was never this bad the last time I tried to quit; maybe it's harder because this time it's for real. My head pounds too – I don't remember my head ever feeling like someone has been hitting it with a jack hammer, not even when I've been hung over. Kaden keeps me under control – there's not a bottle of alcohol for miles. We're isolated.

I catch a glimpse of myself in the semi-darkness of the window; I look like a mess – April shouldn't have had to deal with the consequence of my actions and see me like this. Rain trails over my face and disintegrates the image – what I did was wrong. I shouldn't have left her like that, but if I didn't, she would have never let me go.

And that would have been even harder to break away from.

I hate myself for breaking her heart.

But thank god for the rain. Because it blurs my reflection and distorts how I see myself, so that I don't see how truly eroded I am. It makes me believe I can still be revived. 

Shaking, sweating, no sleep, rain, shaking, sweating, no sleep, rain.

1 week later

April's POV

My fingers shook around the steaming cup of coffee. I glanced at the clock on the wall again and let out a sigh of irritation. When would they arrive? A few excruciatingly long minutes after, a chime rang through the small cafe and my head shot up at the arrival outlined in the doorway.

The shadow stepped forward and I felt a small, sharp pang hit me in the gut. Kaden stepped forward from the doorway, his broad shoulders outlined against the evening dark.

"Kaden." I breathed, glancing behind him to see if there was another shadowy figure hiding there. He stepped forward and waved the waitress down who had stood to.